


The Near and the Dear Ones

by sithwitch13



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Christmas, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 10:31:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sithwitch13/pseuds/sithwitch13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five days until Christmas and Jane wonders where Thor's gone.</p><p>Gift fic for Tek, who requested "Thor saves Christmas".</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Near and the Dear Ones

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have the conversation saved, but I promised Tek, who has beta read fics for me even without knowledge of the canon, a Christmas-themed Christmas fic where Thor saves Christmas and it's probably Loki's fault things were messed up in the first place. Somehow this happened, and I'm sorry it wasn't funnier. But I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Merry Christmas!
> 
> (Also, what is it with me and elves in fics involving Thor?)

Jane’s plane landed in New York on December 20. She had plans to fly out two days later to spend the holidays with her family, but in the meantime she had some time to herself. Granted, some of it was to decompress and adjust to the time difference. But there was the possibility of seeing Thor again. He was supposed to be back in New York for the time being, after all.

The ride into Manhattan, to Stark Tower, was... depressing. She’d seen the alien invasion on the news, of course, and had been properly horrified. But that was nothing to actually being up close and _seeing_ the aftermath of the destruction, the rubble being cleaned away, and in a few rare places, the beginnings of rebuilding. That was one bright spot, she supposed. It would be rebuilt eventually.

“You must be Dr. Foster,” a tall strawberry blonde woman told her once she’d been let into the tower.

“Uh, yeah,” Jane said, feeling frazzled and rumpled. The woman looked like she’d just stepped out of a magazine.

“Virginia Potts, CEO of Stark Industries.”

If she hadn’t felt intimidated before, she did now. She wondered if she could just shrink through the floor and come back after a shower, a change of clothes, and ten hours of sleep.

“Please, call me Pepper,” the woman said, smiling genuinely.

“Hi, um, Pepper,” Jane said. “It’s Jane. Please. Is Thor here?”

“No, he’s out at the moment,” said another voice--a man’s voice. The man--about as rumpled-looking as she felt, and was his chest _glowing_ and--

“Oh God, you’re Tony Stark,” Jane blurted.

“The one and only,” he said. “And we’re all on a first name basis here until you make me angry. So you’re the girl wonder... No, Thor’s not here. He’s been out for... what would you say, Pep, two days now? Three?”

“Days?” Jane asked, feeling more bewildered than starstruck now.

“He said he had somewhere to be,” Mr. Stark--Tony--said. “I figured he was Christmas shopping.”

“Does he even have money?” Pepper asked. “And aren’t you supposed to be getting dressed? We’re supposed to be at the company party tonight.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s like four hours away, and unlike some people, I don’t take that long to get ready.”

“You do when you spend three and a half hours procrastinating, so I’d better start reminding you now.”

“Fair enough. Tell you what... Jane?”

“Jane,” she said, nodding.

“Leave your bags here, I’ll send someone out to find Thor with you.”

“Is that okay?” she asked. “I have a hotel booked--”

“Cancel it,” he said, pulling out his phone. “This building is filled with rooms and I own them all. JARVIS, call Steve, ask him to meet Dr. Foster out front ASAP.”

“Of course, sir,” came a voice out of everywhere and nowhere that made Jane jump.

“Artificial intelligence,” Pepper told Jane _sotto voce_. “Don’t let it get to you. He’s very nice.”

“Thank you, Ms. Potts,” the voice said.

“Of course, JARVIS. Tony, do you have any idea where Thor is, or are you planning to spend the next four hours not getting ready and tracking him down?”

“That, my dear Pepper, is what the internet is for,” he said, holding out his phone. Jane recognized Twitter from the inordinate amount of time Darcy had spent on it in New Mexico. A Tweet-- _OMG did i just see THOR?! #santathor_ \--was pulled up on the screen. “He’s got a whole hashtag devoted to him. At least one of them has to be using Foursquare.”

“Wow,” Jane said, impressed.

“That’s nothing,” Tony said, waving her away. “Amateur work.”

“If it’s so easy, you won’t have any problems being ready on time, will you?” Pepper asked.

Tony made a face. “Do I have to?”

“It’s your Christmas party, you should be there.”

He turned to Jane. “Can I go with you instead? Thor’s always fun.”

“I think I’m staying out of this,” Jane said.

“Smart,” said Pepper. “Steve will be here soon. You can relax in here until then.”

* * *

Nobody told Jane that “Steve” was actually Captain America, though she probably should have guessed that he wouldn’t be just anyone. He was tall, and very polite. He reminded her a little of her grandfather, which on second thought wasn’t that surprising.

There wasn’t much opportunity for small talk while they rode out to the location that Tony had given them, since Steve rode a motorcycle. Even if it hadn’t been loud, she’d been too terrified to do more than hang on desperately.

“Sorry about that,” he said once he’d found parking.

“It’s no problem,” Jane said, except her voice sounded high pitched and shaky.

He gave her a knowing half-smile, but let the subject drop. “I heard you were in Norway?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I got called out there for a sudden project, and I kind of had to go. It was a great move for my career, and it was something I just couldn’t resist.”

“Nothing you can talk about?”

“Something like that,” she said apologetically.

“That’s all right,” he said. “I doubt I’d understand it anyway.”

She looked around as they walked, trying to be discreet. They were in a residential area that looked like it had been hit hard by the alien invasion, with the remains of a crumbled building mostly gutted and marked for demolition and the neighboring buildings all showing signs of damage to a greater or lesser degree.

Steve noticed her looking. “It’s been a tough few months,” he said quietly.

“I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

“I think that’s him over there,” Steve said, pointing to a crowd in front of one of the cordoned-off buildings.

Sure enough, Thor could be seen at the center of the group of people. He towered above them--mostly because the vast majority of the crowd were children. “Is he wearing a Santa hat?” Jane asked, her mouth falling open.

Steve grinned. “It goes nicely with the cape, doesn’t it?”

“What’s he doing?” Jane started forward without waiting for an answer, or to see if Steve was following her.

The crowd seemed to be in a good mood, in contrast to their surroundings. The kids mostly pushed their way forward in various stages of excitement, and the attending adults talked quietly, or snapped pictures, or stood looking just as starstruck as the kids.

Jane stood on her tiptoes, not wanting to shove her way through the crowd, and got a glimpse of Thor just... hanging out. Talking with a few of the kids, laughing, ruffling hair, letting pictures be taken. He stood up, with a kid in each arm, a grin on his face, and spotted her. “Jane!” he called.

“Hi,” she said, feeling shy and intrusive. She waved. “Surprise.”

“It is good to see you!” He moved through the crowd, the kids parting before him, the ones in his arms still there and looking slightly confused. “What are you doing here?”

“I was kind of going to ask you the same thing,” she said, wondering if she could hug him around the armload of children.

“It is a holiday for children, is it not?” he asked. “So I have gathered. On Asgard, the children of warriors killed in battle are cared for. This city has been no less damaged by the war of my brother.”

“Oh,” she said. “Yeah, that’s--I mean, the holidays are for families and friends, but--that’s so sweet,” she said, feeling her heart do the proverbial growing three sizes.

“Down you go,” he told the kids in his arms, letting them down gently. “I have no gifts to give, I fear, but go with good fortune nonetheless.”

“You’re _totally_ my favorite,” the little girl in his left arm told him before scampering back to presumably her mother, who had been filming the whole thing on a camera phone.

“That’s pretty decent of you,” Steve said, joining them. “Are we bothering you?”

“Of course not,” he said. “If you would care to join us, you would be quite welcome.”

Steve hesitated. “I don’t know if it’s the same without the costume.”

“Nonsense,” Thor scoffed. “Children! My friend Captain America has come wish you good tidings!”

A happy cheer went up from the crowd.

“Who’s that?” asked one kid. “She doesn’t look like Black Widow.”

“This is my... friend... Jane Foster,” Thor said. Jane waved at them, feeling about two inches tall.

“Is she your _girlfriend_?” asked one little boy.

“Just say yes,” Steve told Thor. “It’ll save you a lot of trouble.”

“Indeed she is,” Thor said, grinning.

“I’ll tell you what,” Steve said. “How about I take over and you two go have yourselves a nice afternoon? I’m not taking no for an answer.”

The kids protested a little, but Jane and Thor left. “Was your journey an easy one?” Thor asked her as they walked.

“It was fine,” she said. “A little long, but... well. You know.”

“Midgardian travel seems an ordeal,” Thor said, nodding.

“What about you? How’ve you been?” she asked him.

“It has been a trying time,” he said quietly. “I would not burden you.”

“That’s kind of what I’m here for. Hopefully. You know, if we actually do the dating thing, people who date talk to each other.”

He said nothing for a while. “This place is a reminder of all the ill deeds that my brother is capable of--perhaps only the barest portion of them, I do not know. If things had been different--if _I_ had been different--would he have grown into one who can cause such darkness? Such destruction?”

“You’re not responsible for your brother,” Jane said, grabbing for his hand and squeezing it.

“But I am responsible for myself,” he said. “And if my actions led to what he became--”

“Look, it’s the holidays and family always gets people down, I get that,” Jane said. “But you’re a good person. A little weird, but good.”

“I was not always so,” Thor said, but he looked pleased that she, at least, thought that he was.

“I’ve got an idea,” Jane said. “I just got my Christmas bonus. How about we find the nearest candy store, get all the candy canes and holiday stuff we can find, go back, and hand it out to those kids?”

“Do you think they would like it?” Thor asked.

“They’re kids, they’re genetically programmed to love anything sugary,” Jane said. “You’re a good person, Thor. You’re trying to make a holiday you don’t even celebrate special for people you’ve never met because you feel bad about something your brother did. That’s good enough for me.”

He brightened up considerably after that. As they walked out of a corner store some time later, bags of candy in hand, he turned to her. “It occurs to me that I’ve given you nothing for Christmas.”

“I’ll tell you what,” she said. “Come with me to my mom’s house in a couple of days and you’ll be my hero.”

Thor smiled down at her. “I believe I can assist you with this.”

Jane beamed up at him, reaching up to adjust his Santa cap. “Next year we’re getting you the whole costume. The rest of the Avengers can be your elves. Do you think they’d go for that?”

Thor looked confused. “Would children appreciate being given gifts by those in such a warlike attire?”

She stopped, looking at him open-mouthed. “Elves exist?”

“Of course,” he said. “Though the inhabitants of Alfheim and Svartalfheim do not seem particularly festive to me.”

Jane couldn’t help it. She giggled. “Elves exist and I have a date on Christmas. Strange things do happen. Merry Christmas, Thor.”

He looked confused, but took her hand, leading them back to the gathering where Steve was still surrounded by a large crowd. “Merry Christmas, Jane.”


End file.
